Over 30,000 migrants
have attempted to enter the UK illegally in the past 10 months, a
figure which is nearly double the 18,000 recorded in the year
2013/2014.

Sir Charles Montgomery, director of the Border Force, told MPs in
the House of Commons that the agency recorded 30,180
“detections” in the 10 months to the end of January
2015.

He said he could not say for certain whether the rise was due to
an increase in the number of migrants attempting to enter the UK
or to more effective policing.

Montgomery’s comments come a month after the mayor of Calais said
migrants were “willing to die” to come to Britain.
Estimates suggest at least 15 people were killed attempting to
cross the UK border last year.

Giving evidence to the Home Affairs Select Committee, Montgomery
said there were around 3,000 migrants based in Calais who
intended to enter the UK.

He said British immigration officials had detained more than
6,000 illegal migrants who successfully entered the country from
April to the end of December 2014. This number is equal to more
than 20 a day.

Montgomery said this statistic was “flaky,” because some
migrants falsely claim to have entered the country when they may
have actually overstayed their visa.

“The best that I can offer is that this year there has been
about 6,000 detections in-country,” he told MPs.